“The only way out is to jump.”
“What?” Jamie shouted. “That’s your plan? Suicide?”
“I don’t think that was the kind of escape any of us had in mind lad,” Father Callahan said shaking his head with pity.
Cort said nothing and simply stared at Jerry and began to breathe in deeply causing his nostrils to flare. It somehow managed to make the already terrifying man look even that much more threatening.
“It’s not suicide. We’ll be jumping across not down,” Jerry explained.
“Across to what?” Oliver asked straining to peer into the darkness.
“The opposing lanes,” Jerry replied. “There should be another highway just like this one just out there and going in the opposite direction.”
“Padre is that true?” Cort asked his eyes not straying from Jerry.
The priest paused looking back and forth between the two men before replying. “Well in theory, yes. That’s the way highways work. Bunches of cars traveling along a highway one way and next to them another heading in the opposite direction,” Father Callahan explained reluctantly.
“And you know this other…highway, is out there?” Cort asked gesturing towards the darkness.
“I know it is and earlier I seen it,” Jerry replied with a nod.
“You saw it out there in the darkness?” Cort pressed skeptically.
“I saw it further down the trail on the way here,” Jerry explained.
“It was close enough to jump across to there?” Cort asked pointedly.
“It was…maybe,” Jerry replied suddenly realizing he had no real sense of just how far a horse carrying a rider could jump.
“But here you can’t see it, but you still think we should try and jump across to it?” Cort asked anger building in his voice.
“I…yes…yes I do,” Jerry stammered in reply.
“You are a worthless son of a bitch Jerry!” the lieutenant muttered and with saber in hand strode forward with murder in his eyes.
Only the knowledge that an endless drop into a dark abyss lay exactly half a step behind him kept Jerry standing his ground before the approaching cavalryman. But Jerry’s quick and bloody end was interrupted a moment later by the sound of hooves clattering against steel. Every head turned and found Shinji riding up the snow-covered wreck of the Waggoner's and onto the semi-trailers narrow ledge.
The Mongolian kicked his horse into a run and began to thunder down the length of the 3-foot steel ledge. The ruined trailer acted just like a large steel drum reverberating every hoof strike like a wave of rolling thunder. The stocky little horse reached the edge of the trailer in just a few heartbeats and then leaped. Shinji was hanging low over the animal’s back, and both were swallowed by the darkness of the swirling snow.
All of them stood in stunned silence, together they starred after the warrior their eyes fixed upon the formless night. Then a few heartbeats later the echo of clattering hooves came out of the darkness followed by a shout.
“Bi toorchihloo”
“What the hell is he saying?” Jamie asked.
“The hell if I care, but he’s alive to say it,” Cort replied and then shouted, “We jump!”
Needing no further encouragement, Jamie urged his horse up the wreckage and onto the narrow ledge. The young gunfighter took a moment as if to steady his nerves then viciously kicked his horse into a run. The rider and mount raced down the ledge the horse’s steel-shod hooves throwing sparks as they struck the overturned trailer. They reached the edge, and just as Shinji had before him, Jamie launched himself blindly into the darkness.
As he leaped, Jamie shouted, “See you boys in hell!”
A hand full of heartbeats later the clatter of hooves announced Jamie’s arrival.
“I made it!” Jamie’s distant shouted from the darkness.
As if in response an inhuman scream echoed out of the storm behind them. The remaining riders turned and looked to the mouth of the snowy canyon. There Oliver was already wheeling his horse around.
“They’re on us Leftenant!” he shouted.
“Make the jump Oliver!” Cort Commanded as he mounted his horse.
The Dragoon guided his mount up the wreckage and never slowed, he pulled the animal’s reins sharply to the right galloping down the steel ledge. The rider and mount leaped, disappearing into the darkness. A moment later Jerry heard a horse scream followed by unintelligible voices shouting in panic.
“What was that? What happened?” Jerry asked.
“No time to worry about it now, either we’ll be over there in a few seconds to see for ourselves, or we’ll be in no position to care,” Cort shouted.
The cavalryman then spurred his horse up onto the ledge, and there he paused. Looking down first at Jerry and then over to the mounted priest.
“I doubt you can make that jump riding double Padre. I leave it up to you if you want to try or not, good luck,” Cort said.
It took Jerry a moment to realize what Cort was saying, and he watched dumbfounded as the cavalryman raced down the steel ledge and then leaped into the nothingness. Jerry’s heart sunk in his chest and reluctantly Jerry turned to look at Father Callahan, terrified at what the young priest would say. He forced himself to meet the man’s gaze, but if the young priest ever considered leaving Jerry behind, his eyes never showed it. Callahan reached down and offered Jerry a hand up.
“Come on, let's show those bastards that when it comes to equine jumping, these so-called horsemen know nothing!”
Jerry hauled himself up behind the priest, and the pair raced over to climb the ramp of twisted steel. As they passed the opening to the snowy canyon, Jerry risked a glance down the dark path. To his shock and terror, the canyon was aglow with crimson light, and not fifty yards down the canyon the demonic stallion galloped towards them. Gouts of fire poured from each of its nostrils melting the snow as it charged past, scorching the line of cars underneath. The beast let out another terrifying scream as it caught sight of the fleeing horseman.
“Go, go, go!” Jerry shouted into the Priest’s back.
Father Callahan guided their mount up, and over the wreckage of the Wagoneer, for a split-second, Jerry thought he saw Rachel’s arm snake out to try and trip the horse, but he couldn’t be sure. The pair reached the ledge, and Father Callahan paused just long enough to shout.
“Now Jerry, Keep your back straight and your head up! Very important now, form counts for everything!”
“What in the fuck are you talking about?”
But Jerry’s words were drowned out by the clatter of hooves as the horse launched forward. Almost immediately Jerry felt the difference in the Priest’s run, where all of the other riders had run down the ledge at full gallop Jerry felt the priest holding the beast just back from its top speed. Then about halfway down the ledge, the hellish stallion rushed from the canyon in a cloud of smoke and orange flame. The beast skidded hard on the Icey concrete trying desperately to turn and chase after it’s fleeing prey. The demon screamed again releasing a sound like twisting steel, but while Jerry trembled uncontrollably, the priest seemed focused on something else entirely. As their racing horse reached the last few lengths before the drop off into oblivion, Father Callahan finally let the beast have its head, and in turn, the horse responded with a sudden bolt of speed.
“Back straight now!” the priests shouted again.
Jerry’s experience on horseback was modest, to say the least, and the overwhelming majority of that had come after his death. But now as he and the young priest sailed through the darkness of the abyss Jerry somehow knew they would make the leap. The other rider’s jump had been desperate gambles each counting on speed and physics to cross the gap. Father Callahan’s was something else entirely; an exercise in timing and grace. Even the added weight and awkwardness of the little insurance adjuster couldn’t hinder the mount and rider’s perfect form.
The flight though graceful as it had been ended nearly as sharply and disastrously as it had b
egun. Out of the darkness, shadows formed into something much more solid and the horse struck the frozen highway at an awkward angle. Father Callahan fought to keep the beast upright as it tried to regain its footing, in the struggle Jerry lost his grip and tumbled backward and onto the cold concrete. As the priest finally settled the ghostly horse he turned and walked it back to where Jerry sat staring up at him dumbly.
“That was…just…I mean, damn,” Jerry said.
The young priest’s face lit up with a smile, and he nodded slowly.
“I wasn’t always a man of the cloth. In 36 it was my honor to represent my country in Berlin at the summer games. A 4-point fault on my last circuit was the only thing that kept me from medaling.”
“You were an Olympian?” Jerry asked.
“Well, to be fair in the equestrian events the horse’s do most of the work,” Callahan said with a small grin and then added. “I dropped out of university the next year to answer the call and join the priesthood.”
“Padre!”
Cort appeared a moment later out of the darkness from behind them.
“You made it…” and then after a pause added, “both of you.”
“Cort, Cort!” Came Oliver’s desperate shout from behind him.
The Lieutenant turned and ran back into the darkness, after a moment of hesitation Jerry reluctantly followed after him. They reached the edge of the abandoned highway and standing there against the guardrail was the rest of the riders. Oliver was bleeding from a fresh wound on his scalp, but they all seemed to have made the leap.
“Look,” Oliver said pointing upward.
Every face was staring back at the highway from which they had just fled. It was farther than Jerry could have ever imagined, the edge of the roadway from which they had leapt was at least 15 feet higher with about a 30-foot gap separating the two. But the distance wasn’t what drew their attention now as the highway above them was aglow with orange light, then as the group watched the fiery stallion appeared.
The beast peered over the edge of the roadway and then darted from one side of the gap in the guardrail to the other in obvious frustration. It stopped then and simply stared down at the group of riders as flames licked out of its flaring nostrils. Jerry held his breath, and around him, he felt the group of men doing the same each of them willing the beast not to see them. Somehow Jerry knew it wouldn’t be enough. What had seemed an impenetrable wall of darkness for them would mean nothing to this creature made of flame and shadow. The stallion released one last terrifying scream and then abruptly turned and disappeared from view. The light from the burning demon momentarily diminishing as it retreated from the ledge. The riders seemed to exhale as a group as they lost sight of the thing.
“What? Is that it then?” Oliver asked.
“Not on your life, form a line! Guns in hand!” Cort shouted.
Without a moment of hesitation, the riders quickly stood shoulder to shoulder at the guardrail with weapons ready. None questioned Cort’s order or intent, though whether this was from long practice or sheer panic, Jerry couldn’t say. The little time he had to consider the question was torn from him as the light from the opposing highway flared to life again, and the demon came charging back into view. The beast ran to the edge and launched itself into the darkness between them.
If Cort gave a command, Jerry never heard it. As the beast came sailing through the air heading directly for them, the riders opened fire. The dark highway suddenly became bright as both muzzles flashes, and the swiftly approaching beast burned away the darkness. As the demon hurdled through the air towards them, the rounds struck home, and the thing’s wounds flared to life with fresh flames. Cort fired in a volley of single controlled shots while Jamie fired rapidly both of his pistols raised. Oliver fired his massive black powder carbine in a fiery blast and then immediately dropped it to follow up with a shot from his pistol. On the end of the line, Shinji fired in complete silence his black arrows cutting through the darkness in a series of quiet hisses.
As the demon hurdled through the darkness towards them, Jerry knew they were doomed. It was simple physics; the beast was in motion its trajectory set, and it’d landing predetermined before they fired the first desperate shots. But then again, Jerry realized, that this was hell and his personal hell at that. One thing he had seen in this place was that the normal rules of the universe, things like time and space were soft here at best. The thought had just passed through Jerry’s mind when the demon began to kick and thrash in mid-flight. The arrival that had been a mere certainty a moment before now seemed like nearly even odds.
At the railing, the riders continued to pour on the fire. Jerry watched as Cort hammered away with his last two rounds aiming for the beast’s face, Jamie slowing down and taking careful aim with his last handful of shots. Shinji released the last shaft while shouting with what could have been either a curse or a prayer. Oliver had already spun his now useless carbine around and was preparing to use it to pummel their attacker like it was a baseball bat.
The beasts struck the edge of the highway catching the lip of the concrete in its midsection. The force of the landing was enough to send shockwaves through the highway and throw every one of the riders off of their feet. The demon screamed in rage and frustration; then it began scrambling violently with its front hooves, desperately trying to find purchase. Oliver was the first to regain his feet and gripping his carbine by the barrel smashed it across the beast’s face. The demon reeled back from the blow but recovered in time to dodge the second. Its nostrils flared, and Shinji was just able to shoulder the hefty Brit to the ground before a gout of fire cut through the air where he had stood a moment before.
Jamie darted to the right firing the last round from his Scofield into the demon's’ head at point blank range and screaming at the top of his lungs a string of curses.
“Fuck you! You dirty cock sucking long faced son of a whore!”
The beast screamed again and whipped its head around to attack Jamie, and that was the moment Cort struck. The cavalryman leaped over the guardrail and onto the narrow bit of concrete that the beast now fought to hold on too. He raised his saber above his head in a double-handed grip and brought the steel blade down on the demon’s front ankle. Sparks and flames licked from the wound as the thing screamed again but this time in pain. Cort brought the blade down again and again and as the wound widened flames roared more intensely from the wound, the heat burned and blackened Cort’s hands in mere heartbeats, but the cavalryman would not relent.
Jerry watched the scene unfold in what seemed like slow motion. The beast whipped its head back around ready to burn the cavalryman to cinders where he stood, while Cort hacked away at the beast’s ankle like it was a piece of gnarled wood, the man’s intense focus the only thing allowing him to block out the pain of his burns. He realized that the cavalryman was done for, out on the ledge he had no place to hide and no hope of escape. Then to Jerry’s complete surprise, he found himself a player in the violent scene and no longer just an unwitting observer.
He rocked backward and then with a quick step launched his briefcase at the demon. As it sailed through the air, a brief thought flashed through his head. My hand grew back! The case struck the demon squarely in the face just as its nostrils were starting to flare again. The leather case did no damage at all to the beast, but as the thing instinctively tried to dodge the hurled object it bought Cort a few more precious seconds, and the cavalryman put them to good use.
The next blow struck bone with a loud crack and the one after that cut through the last of the dark tendons holding the hoof in place. The stallion slid backward over the edge it’s three remaining legs kicking in vain to try and slow its descent. Then the beast was falling free from the highway and back into the vast darkness. It screamed again and breathed flames in wide arcs as it tumbled and fell through the nothingness. The men stood in shock for a moment and just watched the beast fall. Within moments it was nothing more than a small ball of light, sink
ing in a bottomless sea of darkness, then it was gone.
The cavalryman had burns over most of his body, his legs and hands charred black, and most of his face was a mask of red blisters. He leaned forward as if to watch the demon’s fall and then nearly joined the beast himself as he toppled forward. Only Father Callahan’s quick reaction prevented Cort from pitching over the edge. Oliver and Jamie helped the priest haul the big man back over the guardrail and then lay him down gently on the concrete.
Through his blackened lips, Cort made a few ragged sounds that may have been intended to be words but came out as unintelligible gibberish. The priest looked up at Oliver for a moment, and the Brit gave the young priest a slight nod. Without a second thought, Father Callahan placed his bare hands on either side of Cort’s head. The reaction was sudden and violent. Cort’s wounded frame shuddered, and the man took a deep back arching breath, and Jerry watched as the young priest seemed to wither right before his eyes. As the life flowed into Cort, his burns began to heal and then disappear. First, the blister across his face receded and then followed the charred flesh of his hands. Finally, as the priest’s eyes began to flutter and then roll back in his head Cort’s eyes flashed open.
“That’s enough! Padre, no more!” Cort coughed out.
Oliver had to pry the priest’s hands-free of Cort’s skull. The Brit then lay Father Callahan back gently onto the frozen concrete. The drained priest’s skin was yellowed, his cheeks sunken and dark purple rings had formed under his eyes, and he slipped into unconsciousness without uttering a word.
“Jerry,” Cort’s gravelly voice called out.
Jerry took a breath and stepped over the unconcious priest to stand next to the seated cavalryman.
“Where’s your case?” Cort asked simply.
Jerry just nodded towards the ledge, “Lost it I guess.”
“I was on fire at the time, but I saw what you did,” Cort said slowly.
Jerry just nodded in reply; he had the distinct feeling that this may be as close to an apology as Cort ever gave. Then the moment was past, and the Cavalryman slowly sat up.
Hell's Highwaymen Page 12
